The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-08-24
GOV. LOWRY'S SPEECH,
At Vicksburg, August Is, 1887.
LAdie. and Gentlemen and Fellow Citizens.

peop-e OF the state, and i am before
you to-day to make Acknowledgements.
| Tor the honors and distinctions con
| ferred upon ne, and at the same time
to render an account of my agency as
your public servant in the department
you assigned me. In a Democratic
government the spirit of the constitu-
ton and law is that agents charged
with the performance of public duties
should be faithful to the trust, and any
derelietion on their part should receive
such condemnation as citizens of a
popular government visit upon those
who have been weighed in the uner.
rlng scales of justice and found want
ing. To-day l am gratified to meet so
many of the intelligent citizens OF
Warren county, for it affords me an
| opportunity to interchange opinions
with them and make known in person
my official acts, upon which | invite
with the greatest respect and confidence
their criticisms and Judgment.
Let 1t be remembered, fellow-eitizens,
that the government belongs to the peo-
| pie, to those who support 1t, and not a
penny has it got save that given it by
the people. In other words, the govern
| ments, national and State are paupers,
poorer than any man in your midst,
white or black, and supported alone
by contribution from the people,
| collected in a manner adopted by
themselves through their accredit-
ed agents. Therefore it is that if
there is any science in government
that one is best that is cheapest, honest
ly administered and imposes the lightest
burdens. So to-day, fellow citizens, pro-
pose to discuss the political, financial,
educational, industrial and other inter
ests of the State, and compare them
with that of her sisters and see what
the true situation is, and if mistakes
have been made in any department of
the public service let such serve as warn
ings, that needed correction may be
made. Politically l can affirm that the
state was never in better condition.
Save in two or three counties, the Demo
cratic party is harmonious and without
the semblanee of opposition. Politics
IN Mississippi is a business matter, and
in my judgment should be dealt with on
business principles, and to the extent of
my humble efforts this has been done.
My political faith in State affairs is
simply this: If Mississippi is worth
people it must be controlled by the intel
hgence of the country. Mississippi and
other Southern States have passed
through fearful and most alarming
ordeals, and to-day they are ON the high
way to prosperity. One of the trainers
OF the constitution, the author of the
Declaration of Independence and a
statesman who wrote for posterity, held
that the two races that constitute our
population in Mississippi could not live
equally free under the same government.
In this opinion many philosophic minds
and authors of celebrity have concurred
but 1t may be asserted with truth to-day
that these predictions have not been
fulfilled, but, on the other hand, after a
lair trial of more than fifth of a cen
tury, the white and colored people OF
Mississippi are living on terms of peace
| and quiet, each endeavoring to con-
tribute to the prosperity of a common
country. believe that | can safely
assert that the colored people of Missis-
sippi are more content than they have
ever been since the day they became
citizens. They are protected in their
earnings, in all the rights that they have,
and recognize the fact that their freedom
and destiny are safe in the keeping of
both the Federal and the State govern
ments; and so believing and realizing,
they have ceased to take that interest in
politics that they did few years ago,
and are bending their energies to the
various vocations in which they are
engaged. And now, having said this
much touching political matters, | would
add word more. Our people are salts
fled and contented. They believe that
the Chief Executive of this great nation
has been faithful and true to every sec
ton, and while he has not done every
thing that we desired, yet he has done
much; and when the National Conven-
tior, which assemblies in the near future,
meets, | predict that Grover Cleveland
will be renominated for President by
acclamation, and triumphantly elected.
Now, fellow citizens, at the risk of
being considered egotistical, l beg to
refer for a single moment to the past.
Some twenty years ago, at the instance OF
that grand and noble old soldier and
statesman, Benjamin @. Humphreys,
and great number of prominent gen
tlemen from your own city, Canton,
Holly Springs, Meridian, Jackson and
other points of the State, | canvassed
the State with a view of contributing
something to government under which
we could live. How / succeeded | leave
the people who remember the time and
occasion to judge. Yet, after that and
other contests were over, and after the
Democratic party had succeeded to
power in Mississippi, | was called to
serve you as chief magistrate. After a
service of five and one-half years / pro-
pose to present to you the present
financial condition of your State govern
ment. This has become necessary be-
cause of false and ignorant criticisms
that have been INDUCED in by few
persons who desire to engage in mold
ing and controlling public sentiment. /
wish to state just here that | have
always received fair treatment from the
majority of the press of Mississippi, and
l want to say, too, that Just and fair
criticism often accomplishes much good,
but it often becomes necessary to check
and crush falsehood and ignorance.
/ affirm here to-day that there has
been no extravaganza, no waste of the
peoples money during the past five and
a half years. More than that, / affirm
that there has been less State tax paid
into the State treasury from 1882 to 1885,
inclusive, than there has been during
the same period since the war. | go
still further and say, that less taxes have
been paid, State and county, during the
past five and half years than has been
for the same length of time in thirty
years. ] assume these propositions to
put at rest for all time to come the sense
less assertions of a class of men who
have been crying extravaganza, steals,
| jobs, etc. 1t may be that one or two OF
such persons are not entirely without
capacity, and are simply misinformec,
but there is another class of little whip
per snappers and me too fellows who
| fall into line and with coarse epithets
absolutely fatigue contempt. These
| little gad-fiies often use in their little
writings we say thus and so, meaning
| thereby, / presume, the writer and 9
tsenia, and more fit companions have
never known, except the t9nia has
If they had lived during the war they
would have eclipsed such generals as
Lee, the Johnstons, Stonewall Jackson
and relegated them to the rear for in
efficiency. So distinguished would they
have become, that the customs of the
East would have been adopted in this
country, and these harmless rsnters
would have been covered all over with
snowy decorations.
1t is net admissible from the husting'
to deal elaborately in statistics, and
therefore, to establish the propositions
made, promise to detain you but short
time and leave you afterwards, wher
my statements are published, to read al
leisure and examine for yourselves anc
see if they are not both correct anc
accurate. In a single moment, let me
say, that the total assessed valuation oi
realty and personality in Mississippi from
1876 to 1886, inclusive would averags
i ahor,f tho sanna From l2FA to 1881